A burst water pipeline can flood a road, waste drinking water and leave homes waiting for supply to return. What if the warning came before the pipe gave way?
Delhi is turning to artificial intelligence to identify vulnerable pipelines, flag possible bursts and spot low-pressure areas before they lead to bigger disruptions. Water Minister Parvesh Verma on Wednesday inaugurated the Intelligent Command and Control Centre (IC³) at JWIL Infra Limited's office on Shivaji Marg.
The centre will bring water supply data, consumer complaints, maintenance records and the location of repair teams onto a single dashboard. Officials will be able to identify trouble spots, monitor the progress of repairs and check whether complaints have been resolved.
The system combines information from smart meters, digital pipeline maps, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and GPS-enabled field vehicles. It will also use digital-twin technology, which creates a virtual model of the water network, to study demand patterns and anticipate possible pipeline failures.
The idea is to spot warning signs early rather than wait for a pipe to burst. However, how accurately the system can predict such failures remains unclear.
Delhi's Water Loss Problem
The new system comes as Delhi struggles to check water losses. In its 2026-27 Budget, the government said 45 per cent of the city's water supply falls under non-revenue water, which includes leaks, unauthorised use and metering losses. It aims to bring the figure down to 15 per cent.
The 45 per cent figure does not mean that nearly half of Delhi's water is lost through leaking pipelines. It also includes unauthorised use and losses linked to faulty meters and billing errors.
The Budget allocated Rs 9,000 crore to the Delhi Jal Board and Rs 475 crore for expansion of the Chandrawal water treatment plant and pipelines, expected to benefit nine Assembly constituencies.
The new centre is linked to the Delhi Jal Board's Chandrawal water supply project, where JWIL is executing Packages 2, 3 and 4. According to the officials, these areas account for approximately 10 per cent of Delhi's population and geographical area, including VIP localities. The project's website lists areas such as Shastri Nagar, Zakhira, Naraina and Shadipur.
Emergency Vehicle For Pipeline Leaks
Alongside the centre, Verma flagged off an emergency response vehicle equipped with high-capacity submersible pumps, a 60 kVA generator and repair tools.
The equipment will allow teams to pump water out of flooded repair sites and begin work even when electricity is unavailable. GPS tracking will help the control room coordinate its deployment across all three Chandrawal project packages.
"When a complaint comes in, the response should be quick and the action taken should be trackable," Verma said.